Nebraska football's roster squeeze is creating tough decisions for players and coaches

New York Times

19-02-2025

LINCOLN, Neb. — The first time Conor Connealy tore the ACL in his right knee, it nearly robbed him of the opportunity to play college football.
The second time, oddly, his injury might extend his career at Nebraska and buy him time to earn a spot on a roster cut dramatically in size. Parts of his story are not unique to the Huskers. Players and coaches nationally face difficult choices in 2025 due to the fallout from the NCAA v. House settlement.
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Connealy didn't expect to be part of a sweeping change in college sports. It just swallowed him up, like so much else that has long existed without fanfare.
Nebraska football posters hung from the red- and white-painted walls in Connealy's childhood bedroom. A helmet worn at Nebraska by his father, two-time All-Big Eight defensive lineman Terry Connealy, sat on Conor's nightstand.
'I was raised by Blackshirts,' he said. 'I felt like I was raised in the program, with their culture and their different values. It's always been a part of me. And something bigger than me.'
In his first memory of Nebraska football, Conor sat on his dad's shoulders at age 6 or 7 as they walked into Memorial Stadium.
'Seeing the field, seeing the scoreboard,' he said, 'I just remember being able to look down at all the fans and know how much everybody loved Nebraska.'
Before the school hired Matt Rhule as its coach in December 2022, Connealy had begun to accept that his football career might be over. Two months earlier, as a two-way lineman at Mount Michael High in Elkhorn, Neb., he suffered that first knee injury early in his senior season.
Connealy initially had heard from Nebraska in a text from Kenny Wilhite, the director of high school relations, on Thanksgiving Day 2021. But contact with the Nebraska staff waned after Connealy got hurt. Amid the upheaval in Lincoln, the Huskers transitioned from Scott Frost to interim coach Mickey Joseph in the fall of 2022.
Staffers anticipated widespread change at the end of the season. And it came. As Connealy listened to Rhule's introductory news conference, he heard that the former Carolina Panthers coach wanted to reinforce the qualities of a developmental program at Nebraska. Connealy heard that Rhule wanted to build players into contributors by their third, fourth and fifth seasons.
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Rhule's words reignited a fire, reminding Connealy of stories he had heard from his dad. Terry Connealy played eight-man high school football in Hyannis, Neb., and captained the defense for a national championship team with the Huskers as a fifth-year senior in 1994.
Conor Connealy, still wanting to play, made plans to attend Nebraska as a student only. In the spring of Connealy's senior year at Mount Michael, Nebraska assistant Ed Foley reached out to ask for film that showed his mobility before he got hurt.
He gathered a few clips. The Huskers extended a walk-on offer. He accepted on the spot.
'I was excited to help,' Connealy said. 'I was excited to play scout team. I was excited to learn from older guys.'
Connealy rehabbed from the high school injury. He settled at defensive line like his dad. He gained 20 pounds in each of his first two seasons without playing in a game, packing 265 pounds on his 6-foot-4 frame.
He felt like a contributor to the family business.
Almost immediately after Nebraska closed the regular season last year on Black Friday, Connealy met with then-defensive line coach Terrance Knighton. If the roster cuts to come in 2025 were in place now, Knighton told him, Connealy wouldn't have a spot on the 105-man roster.
He would not be allowed to stay on the team. Rhule and his staff had those conversations with many players.
'Some guys left as walk-ons here and got scholarships somewhere else,' Rhule said, 'which is great. But some guys have said, 'Coach, I'm staying here until you kick me off. I'm a Husker.''
Roster limits will be rolled into the House settlement, a resolution to the $2.8 billion lawsuit that will bring revenue sharing to college sports, pending approval in April. With a 150-player roster that ranked as one of the largest in college football last season, Nebraska — and every other program — must get to 105 by the start of play in 2025.
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Thirty Huskers entered the transfer portal in December and January. But after Nebraska signed 20 recruits and 16 transfers, it still must trim more than 25 from its roster.
Connealy isn't leaving on his own.
'My gut instinct,' he said, 'was, 'OK, let's prove them wrong. I want to be a Cornhusker.' I wouldn't be able to sleep at night if I didn't give it my best shot.'
He made plans to double down on his training and get in the best shape of his life. Connealy listened to his dad, who told him to keep working when no one was watching.
Then, on Dec. 4, in a pass-rush drill as Nebraska began bowl game prep work, Connealy felt his right knee buckle. Trainers checked him out. He finished the workout, even running a few sprints. It felt OK, he said. The next day, an MRI showed a tear to the same ACL he had injured more than two years prior.
He attended the Pinstripe Bowl and watched in sweats as Nebraska won its first postseason game since 2015. Connealy underwent surgery on Jan. 17. The prognosis for a return from the second ACL injury is 12 to 15 months.
Connealy's end goal has not changed. He wants to play for Nebraska.
'I'm viewing this as a blessing and an opportunity to grow,' he said.
Rhule said this month that he expects Nebraska could replace an injured player on the 105 in August. Presumably, Connealy and others who are out for the season could remain connected to the Huskers while working to return from injury, although the extent of their permitted involvement in team activities is unknown.
Clarity from the NCAA on roster management could come after the April ruling on the House settlement.
'Hurting my knee may save me a spot at the table,' Connealy said, 'just because there's so much uncertainty as to what the rules are. I don't think anyone knows. It leaves us in a tough spot.'
Connealy told Rhule in December that he's 'fully committed' to making it back and earning a spot. The coach expected nothing less from him.
'That's hard for me,' Rhule said of the roster crunch. 'We'll compete it out all the way to the end and see how the numbers play out.'
He said the Huskers might take 115 players into preseason practice at the end of July.
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By Aug. 28, when Nebraska opens against Cincinnati at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Rhule plans to identify a top 57 that resembles an active NFL roster. Then, among the remaining 48 spots, all but 10 would fit like a second NFL-style unit.
The last 10? Culture fits. A former walk-on linebacker at Penn State, Rhule wants players, regardless of their position, who are flexible at practice and bring too much value to cut. He's looking for players who are 'raising the level of everything around us.'
Connealy has heard the message.
'As a culture guy, I know what Nebraska football is supposed to be like,' he said. 'Right now, my plan is to bust my ass and get my knee healed up better than it was before. It gives me a great chance to change my body and get into great shape, get a lot stronger and just watch a lot of film.'
Before the latest setback, Connealy said he felt pointed in the right direction to play and help Nebraska win games.
'I see no reason why that won't continue,' he said.
If ever the day comes when he's left off the 105 at Nebraska while healthy, Connealy said he doesn't know if he would enter the portal or simply choose to stay in Lincoln and finish school.
'That's a tough question,' he said. 'It would depend on a lot of factors. I'm not too interested in anywhere else. I do love it here. It's my home. But I also love playing football.'
(Top photo of Conor Connealy courtesy of Nebraska Athletics)